On
XXXXX, Respondent issued its audit determination assessing Petitioner with
additional sales tax and interest.Petitioner appealed the assessment,then withdrew the appeal,
acknowledged its liability for the additional tax, and asked that the
Commission waive interest charges arising out of this matter.

The
parties having waived their right to an in-person hearing.The Commission therefore makes the following
findings of fact based on its file in this matter.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1.The tax in question is sales tax.

2.The period in question is XXXXX through
XXXXX.

3.On XXXXX, Respondent assessed Petitioner
with additional sales tax of $$$$$ for the period in question.The additional tax liability arose from
disallowed exempt sales for which no exemption certificates were obtained or
retained, additional taxable purchases that did not become an integral part of
the product and additional taxable purchases consumed in real property
contracts.

4.Although Respondent did not assess penalty
against Petitioner, Petitioner was charged with interest accrued on the amount
of Petitioner's tax liability.

5.Petitioner appealed the foregoing tax
assessment, but then withdrew its appeal and instead asked the Commission to
waive the accrued interest charged against it.

6.Petitioner requests waiver of interest on
the grounds it believed in good faith that it was not required to that it was
not required to collect sales tax on the transactions in question.Because it did not collect the tax from its
customers at the time of the transaction, it must now pay the tax from its own
funds.

Petitioner
contends that payment of interest under these

circumstances will result in undue hardship.

7.Petitioner has frequently been assessed with
penalty on its sales tax account during the previous several years.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

The
Tax Commission is granted the authority to waive, reduce, or compromise
penalties and interest upon a showing of reasonable cause.(Utah Code Ann. §59-1-401(8).)

DECISION AND ORDER

The
only issue before the Commission is Petitioner's request for waiver of interest
charges which have accrued on its sales tax assessment.The Commission is authorized by statute to
waive interest for "reasonable cause". Reasonable cause is cause
which arises despite ordinary care and prudence exercised by the taxpayer.Ignorance of the law, standing alone, does
not justify waiver of penalty.

In
this case, it was Petitioner's lack of knowledge or lack of attention that
resulted in the tax assessment against it, which in turn resulted in additional
interest charges.Such circumstances
are insufficient to support waiver of the accrued interest, particularly in
view of Petitioner's poor

history of compliance with the Sales Tax Act.

Based
upon the foregoing, the Commission finds that sufficient cause has not been
shown which would justify a waiver of the interest associated with Petitioner's
sales tax liability for the period in question.Petitioner's request for waiver is therefore denied.It is so ordered.